Yorkshire Water has made a single supplier direct contract award for an Integrated Platform for Networks with an estimated value of £9.6 million (inc VAT).

The water company was seeking an integrated platform on the basis that managing separate, disconnected systems for each functionality creates operational inefficiencies, increases the risk of data gaps, and complicates timely decision-making.

Yorkshire Water took the view that having all required capabilities within a single, unified solution ensures a holistic view of the network, seamless data flow between modules, and faster, more effective operational responses.

Fully developed and commercially available platform required

Yorkshire Water was also looking for a platform which was fully developed and commercially available - not in early-stage development, not unproven, and not awaiting first deployment or first operational results.

The utility also wanted a solution which had already demonstrated successful outcomes with other water companies, preferably within the UK and particularly with other water and sewage companies. Yorkshire Water are prioritising mitigation of the risks in implementation and risks of poor outcomes.

The integrated platform was required to deliver all the following functionalities within a single, unified solution, rather than as separate modules across different, disconnected systems.

1. Blockage Prediction

Identifies early signs of potential blockages within the wastewater network, based on abnormal patterns detected through flow or level data. This enables proactive maintenance to prevent incidents before customer impact or pollution occurs.

2. Network Spill Forecasting

Estimates the likelihood of network spills based on rainfall, capacity, and system behaviour. The goal is to trigger early operational interventions to avoid environmental non-compliance and reduce pollution events.

3. Pumping Station

Tracks pump activity across the network, identifying underperformance, abnormal operation, or potential failures. This helps improve operational visibility, reduce downtime, and support asset efficiency.

4. Customer Sewer Alarm (CSA)

Provides alerting mechanisms in customer-facing parts of the network where issues such as blockages or overflows could lead to property flooding. It allows for early warnings before customers are affected using both digital and analog pressure data.

5. Burst Rising Main Detection

Assure accurate burst detection to prevent and reduce the impact of pollution from pressurised sewage mains

6. Excess Water Detection

Detects excess water entering the wastewater network from sea, river, ground or misconnected rainwater, causing spills, damage and inefficiencies.

The platform also had to be capable of integrating with core utility systems (e.g., SCADA, telemetry, SAP, GIS) and meet minimum interoperability requirements to interpret data from devices and sensors currently deployed in Yorkshire Water’s network.

Stormharvester Ltd only supplier able to provide all required capabilities within one integrated platform with proven operational benefits

The direct contract has been awarded to Stormharvester Ltd for technical reasons.

Last month the water company conducted a market engagement exercise which was carried out to understand whether there were suppliers capable of delivering a single, fully-integrated platform covering the above six required functionalities/modules which met all other related requirements. A total of 10 suppliers submitted responses.

Yorkshire Water says the the engagement exercise had demonstrated that no supplier, other than the proposed contractor, was able to provide all required capabilities within one integrated platform with proven operational benefits.

“Other suppliers could only offer partial coverage, standalone modules, solutions still under development, or platforms without sufficient evidence of successful implementation in comparable UK networks. As a result, a competitive tendering process would not generate genuine competition”, the company says.

The water company says that for these reasons, the direct award is justified as a feasible route to securing the required integrated solution with proven performance, interoperability with our systems, and readiness for deployment.

Earliest date the contract will be signed is 1 December 2025 – current estimated start and end contract dates are 1 December 2025 to 30 November 2028 with a further possible extension option to 30 November 2030.